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Brooklyn Today for Sept. 10, 2012

Brooklyn Today for Sept. 10, 2012

Good morning. Today is the 254th day of the year. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for Sept. 10, 1882, reported on the “curious traffic in trade” of tarantulas and their nests. It seems that one Leo Fleishman started to gather the deadly creatures’ nests to sell to curiosity seekers. As sales increased, he began to gather and sell the tarantulas too, but he wisely injected them with arsenic first.

As the opening of Barclays Center approaches, so grows the anticipation of star-studded events and Brooklyn’s hometown welcome for a pro basketball team. Behind all of the media excitement for the spectator attraction at Barclays Arena is the promise of a major new economic base for Brooklyn — but also the fear of traffic control. In partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library, Con Edison is again sponsoring a breakfast forum to examine ‘Sports and Economy’ as it hits Brooklyn big time this month.

The BPL’s Dweck Center at the Central Branch, Grand Army Plaza, will feature experts that discuss the impact of spectator sports and athletic activities on business attraction, job creation and urban environment, this Wednesday, September 12, 8:30 to 10:30. Panel moderator will be Kyle Kimball, CFO of NYC Economic Development Corporation. Panelists include Charlie Mierswa, exec VP and CFO of Brooklyn Nets; Michael Hopper, VP for sports marketing, NYC and Company; Steve Cohen, general manager, Brooklyn Cyclones; and Tupper Thomas, founding president of Prospect Park Alliance. (To register for the event, call 718-623-7000, option 4.)

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Run to remember Liz Padilla

The Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) is dedicated to making the legal system accessible to everyone, regardless of means. While uniquely rich in diversity, Brooklyn has the largest indigent population in New York State, with more than 600,000 people living at or below poverty level.

In 2004, Elizabeth Padilla joined VLP as a staff attorney who helped co-ordinate the pro bono representation for the poorest people of Brooklyn. She loved the work of providing vital legal representation to those less fortunate than she, and her enthusiasm was a contagious boost to the program. As a competitive runner Ms. Padilla began plans to create a 5K race to benefit VLP in the early summer of 2005.

On June 9 of that year her life ended tragically. She was killed in a road accident while biking to work. Her co-workers continued to plan the 5K and it takes place every October in her memory, and to benefit the work of the Volunteer Lawyers Project she loved.

On Sunday, Oct. 7, the seventh annual Liz Padilla Memorial 5K will start at 10 a.m. in Prospect Park. For more information about the race or VLP, contact Jeannie Costello at 718-624-5446.